Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I fundamentally believe that the new model of care must be in line with the WHO guidelines. It must use an informed consent model and be delivered in the community, which is crucial. There are models in place in other countries that we can look to, including in Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Malta, Canada and parts of the United States. They are already operating this model of care. That is where we need to be looking for best practice. The development of this model of care must be accelerated and crucially, it must be done with engagement with the community, people who are directly affected and their families. To date, that has not happened and relationships between the national gender service and the community are poor and need to be improved. People need to have a say in these services and the voice of the people must be crucial in that. It also needs to align with the core principles of Sláintecare, which are community-based and patient-centred because ultimately we are dealing with people's human rights and the right to healthcare because trans rights are human rights.

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